---
title: Firebird
sidebarTitle: Firebird
---

This is the implementation of the Firebird data handler for MindsDB.

[Firebird](https://firebirdsql.org/en/about-firebird/) is a relational database offering many ANSI SQL standard features that runs on Linux, Windows, and a variety of Unix platforms. Firebird offers excellent concurrency, high performance, and powerful language support for stored procedures and triggers. It has been used in production systems, under a variety of names, since 1981.

## Prerequisites

Before proceeding, ensure the following prerequisites are met:

1. Install MindsDB [locally via Docker](https://docs.mindsdb.com/setup/self-hosted/docker) or use [MindsDB Cloud](https://cloud.mindsdb.com/).
2. To connect Firebird to MindsDB, install the required dependencies following [this instruction](/setup/self-hosted/docker#install-dependencies).
3. Install or ensure access to Firebird.

## Implementation

This handler is implemented using the `fdb` library, the Python driver for Firebird.

The required arguments to establish a connection are as follows:

* `host` is the host name or IP address of the Firebird server.
* `database` is the port to use when connecting with the Firebird server.
* `user` is the username to authenticate the user with the Firebird server.
* `password` is the password to authenticate the user with the Firebird server.

## Usage

In order to make use of this handler and connect to the Firebird server in MindsDB, the following syntax can be used:

```sql
CREATE DATABASE firebird_datasource
WITH
    engine = 'firebird',
    parameters = {
        "host": "localhost",
        "database": "C:\Users\minura\Documents\mindsdb\example.fdb",
        "user": "sysdba",
        "password": "password"
    };
```

You can use this established connection to query your table as follows:

```sql
SELECT *
FROM firebird_datasource.example_tbl;
```
